Automatic safety plunger



July 25, 5 BELKNAP 1,919,647

AUTOMATI C SAFETY PLUNGER Filed Sept. 21, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet l JVVE TURI 5L.EELKNHP l-ZTTUENEYS- July 25, 1933.

s. L. BELKNAP 1,919,647

AUTOMATIC SAFETY PLUNGER Filed Sept. 21, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.mQZTTUHNEYS.

JTVENTUH I EILBELKNHP M Patented July 25,1933

UNITED, 'srA'r s PATENT OFFICE SAMUEL L. 'BELKNAP, or LOS ANGELES;CALIFORNIA AUTOMATIC SAFETY PLUNGER Application filed September 21,1932. Serial No. 634,189.

and which provides means for eifectively locking the door in closedposition even though the lock and the lock controlled bolt may have beendisturbed or mutilated. In the use of safes, for which the nnproved doorhas been primarily designed, it not in-- frequently occurs that anattempt is made to open the safe by punching the look through the door.In other. instances attempts are made to break thelo'ck and to removethe pieces of the lock piece by piece. In the present construction thedoor has auxiliary bolts which are normally not'used butv which areinstantly available and caused to be used on disturbing the lock andlock controlled bolt so as to effectively hold the door in closedposition and thus prevent access to the interior of'th'e safe.

With the foregoing and other ob ects 1n view, which will be mademanifest in the following detailed description, and spec fically pointedout in the appended claims, reference is had to the accompanyingdrawings for an illustrative embodiment'of the invention, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a vertical section through a safe for which the improved doorand associated structure has been primarily designed.

' -Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the door of the safe.

Fig. 3 isa view in front elevation of the door. Fig. 4-is a sectionalview taken substantially upon the line 4 4 upon Figure l in thedirection indicated.

V Fig. 5 is a partial view in vertical section illustrating one ofthe'auxiliary bolts in its retracted position. c

Fig. 6 is a view similar to Figure 5 showing the auxiliary bolt inprojected or look ing position.

Referring to the accompanying drawings,

wherein similar reference characters desig .nate similar partsthroughout, the safe'herein disclosedis similar to that disclosed in mycopending application consisting of a frusto-conic'al body 10 having abottom 11 with integral flanges 12. The safe presents a smooth straightline exterior and is adapted to be embedded bodily in a concrete flooror wall indicated at C. At the top of the safether'e are provided twoseats 13 and 14,

each seat being designed to receive a door( Although a double door safeis herein disclosed, it will be understood that the invention is in no,way restricted in its application to a double door safe in that it maybe equally well employed on a single door. As shown, however, eachseathas an adjacent flange 15 and 16 respectively. The body of the upperdoor is indicated at 17 and the body of the lower door is indicated at18, these doors being circular in form and shaped to fit theirrespectiveseats. Each" door is designed to be capable ofrotating. on its sealwhilein closed position, hindering any attempt to chisel the door. Each doorcarries an outstanding lug on one side, the lug being indicated 'by thereference character 19. Diametrically opposite this lug the door isrecessed, as indicated at 20, the recess being located on the under sideto receive a lock, the keyhole of which is indicated at 21, and whichcontrols and operates a sliding bolt 22 whichlcan be projected beneaththe, flange of the seat when the door is in closed position. The bolt 22and lug '19 cooperate to fasten the door in place al- 7 by coil sprin s30. Preferably the inner b ends of the and 29 respecplungers or bolts 28and29 are recessed to partially receive the springs 30. Each plunger hason its under sidea small aperture 31 and. the locations of the bores .26

and 27 and the plungers 28 and 29 is such that when the plungers orbolts 28 and 29 are projected they move outwardly beneath the flange onthe body or seat. The plate 28 has secured thereto a pair of smallrivets or studs, these being indicated at 32 and 33. These studsnormally enter apertures-31 in the bolts or'plungers and hold the boltsor plungers in retracted positions so that normally the outer ends ofthese bolts or plungers are flush with the periphery of the door.

The operation and advantages of the improved construction are asfollows. Under normal conditions the bolts or plungers 28 and 29 arekept retracted and the bolt 22 in cooperation with lug 19 serves as thesole retaining means for holding the door in locked position. If anattempt is made, however, to punch the lock through the door, thepunching stresses are transmitted to plate 23 tending to spring theplate down away from the under side of the door, as is shown in Figure6. This downward movement of the plate with respect to the door causesthe rivets or studs 32 and 33 to be withdrawn from apertures 31, thus releasin the bolts or plungers 28 and 29. These then spring out beneaththe flange so that even though the lock should be completely destroyedand the bolt22 moved into retracted position, the bolts or plungers 28and 29 retain the door in closed position, thus preventing the openingof the safe by any unauthorized person.

It will, of course, be appreciated that when the bolts or plungers 28and 29 have been released and the lock may have been destroyed, that itis then diiiicult for even an authorized person to gain access to theinterior of the safe. It is then necessary to withdraw the safe from theconcrete C or to chip away sufiicient concrete to expose a side of thesafe. The bodies of these sates are usuall heavily casehardened and withthe side 0 the safe exposed it is possible to grind ofi thiscasehardening with a grinding wheel. When the outer hard skin is thusground 05, it is possible to drill through the safe beneath the flange.A drill is used of sufficient diameter to form a hole which will allow abolt or plunger 28 to pass through and a hole is then drilled into thewall of the safe. When this hole has been drilled the door may berotated to position a plunger or bolt 28 or 29 opposite the hole and itcan then be withdrawn through the hole in the wall. l/Vhen one plungerhas been withdrawn in this manner, the safe can be rotated to positionthe opposite plunger opposite the hole to enable its withdrawal. Thedoor can then be removed to provide access to the interior. Obviouslythis opening of the safe to gain access to the interior requiresconsiderable time and requires the presence of the necessary tools. Inthe limited time that an unauthorized person has an opportunity toattempt access to the interior, these operations of removing theconcrete and drilling the hole after grinding off the casehardened-skincan hardly be accomplished. The usual attempt is made to quickly andsimply punch through the lock and the improved construction safeguardsthe contents of the safe in the event that such a punching operation issemi-successful.

It will be appreciated that the presence of the plungers or bolts 28 and29 in no way interferes with the normal operation of the safe and thatthese parts only become operative when position of the lock is disturbedwith respect to the body of the door.

Various changes may be made in the details of construction withoutdeparting from the spirit or scope of the invention as defined by theappended claims.

I claim: I I

1. A safe comprising a container, a door for the container, there beingan inwardly extending flange on which the door rests, a lock for thedoor having a bolt adapted to be moved beneath the flange when inlocking position, said lock extending through the door, a plate on theunder side of the door, and means operable by flexing of the plate onattempting to punch the lock engageable beneath said flange for holdingthe door in closed position.

2. A safe comprising a container, a door for the container, there beingan inwardly extending flange on which the door rests, a lock for thedoor having a bolt adapted to be moved beneath the flange when inlooking position, said lock extending through the door, a plate on theunder side of the door, a spring actuated bolt urged into flangeengaging position mounted on the door, and means associated with theplate for normally holding the spring actuated bolt retracted butadapted'to release it when the plate is moved on punching the lock.

3. A safe comprising a container having a circular entrance, there beingan inwardly extending circular flange at the entrance on which the doorrests, a lock for the door having a bolt adapted to be moved beneathsaid flange when in locking position enabling the door to be rotatedwhile in locked position, spring actuated bolts mounted in the dooradapted to be projected by the springs into positions beneath saidflange, and means connecting the spring actuated bolts to the lock fornormally holding the spring actuated bolts in retracted positions butadapted to release them when the lock is disturbed from its normalposition such as on punching the lock.

SAMUEL BELKNAP.

